Advise and consent?

Is CMS recess appointment President Obama's only option in filling a key health care post? Are Senate Democrats hypocritical for blocking President George W. Bush's recess appointments but allowing Obama's?

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Cameron LynchRepublican Strategist and President The Lynch Group, LLC :

Recess appointments are constitutionally permissible and sometimes necessary as a matter of procedure. The privilege was originally conceived when members of Congress frequently adjourned for several months at a time and traveled multiple days to and from their home states and districts.

President Obama's appointment of Don Berwick, however, simply doesn't pass the smell test.

The role of CMS Administrator is one of the most important (and perhaps undervalued) in Washington. Enactment of the still controversial health care law - under which the CMS Administrator will oversee tens of billions of dollars of changes to Medicare and Medicaid - elevated the position to one of unprecedented importance.

The absence of a CMS administrator during the legislative push for health care bill was, at best, procedural negligence by the Obama administration. The "end around" appointment of a CMS candidate unlikely to win senatorial approval approaches malpractice.

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